


Misdirection at Beacon Batch

by DixieDale



Category: Clan O'Donnell - Fandom, Garrison's Gorillas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 06:50:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15989915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale
Summary: 'Misdirection upon misdirection', that was how Craig Garrison had explained their newest mission - a vital mission to keep two German agents from discovering the truth behind a lovely con the Allies had in place.  So, maybe Meghada was right in what she told him once it was all over.  "Really, when you think on it, Lieutenant, it was a great deal your own fault, you know."   Maybe she was right - maybe - but Garrison was willing to put his bet on someone else entirely.Very, very early on, one of the first joint missions the team had with the Dragon.





	Misdirection at Beacon Batch

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Beacon Batch really existed!

Beacon Batch - a lovely bit of misdirection designed by the talented people at Shepperton Film Studios to trick the Germans into dropping their bombs early, missing the rich target of Bristol nearby. Otherwise known as Operation Starfish. An amazing con, and so far it had worked, but someone apparently had dropped a careless word in the wrong ear, and now Garrison and his men were trying to counter with ANOTHER con, another bit of misdirection, this time directed at two German operatives who were going by the names of Keith Myers and Quinton Rheames. The two men, posing as archaeologists interested in excavating the barrows located in that area, were supposedly checking out the odd rumor, and if they succeeded, actually walked through the stage set, saw all the special effects, Bristol could really be in for it on Jerry's next bombing run.

Why Kevin Richards had insisted the Dragon accompany them, working one end of the con while Actor and Garrison worked the other, Garrison didn't know; he hadn't been thrilled at the idea. He'd been planning to take on Myers, let Actor handle Rheames. Bringing the woman into it, well, while he knew she was a talented agent, at least from anything he'd heard, she was far too volatile and unpredictable for his liking, and the odd friendship between her and his resident pickpocket made him uncomfortable to say the least. Still, he hadn't been given a choice, and could only hope she behaved herself, and Goniff as well. They and the people of Bristol couldn't afford any screw-ups. It's just too bad Garrison hadn't hoped for Casino's cooperation in that effort as well.

"Shit, Casino! W'at the 'ell do you think you're doing??!" Goniff cried out from the front porch, coming down the steps at a bound. Casino looked in dismay at the limp redhead folded at his feet, the now-battered tin cup and spilled coffee laying beside her.

"I didn't . . . I think I dozed off - She startled me, I saw her shadow - I was half expecting Myers and his crew, ya know. I just reacted."

"Well, you better believe SHE'S gonna 'react', once she wakes up! Blimey, Casino! She was just bringing you a cup of coffee!"

Goniff was now squatting beside the still figure, gently checking the place Casino's elbow had made contact at that pressure point under Meghada's ear. The Englishman was relieved to find her pulse strong, no structural damage that he could find, but he was still pissed, to say the least. "Coulda broken 'er neck, you know! Seen the Warden do that a time or two, like on that Berlin job." 

Casino jerked his head around at the far off sound of a car approaching, "aw, hell! The Warden! He's gonna kill me! She's supposed to leave about now, to get ready to take that meeting with Rheames in the morning ; he sees her like this, I'll never hear the end of it."

"'IM??! W'at about 'ER? W'at, you think she's gonna wake up and think she just suddenly felt the need for a little nap out here on the cobblestones?? Think that's w'at she's gonna tell the Warden?? 'Sorry, Lieutenant, decided it was better to sleep out 'ere tonight, maybe 'ead out in the morning??!'"

Goniff was looking at the safecracker as if he'd lost his mind. He was even sure of it when the man brightened up, "yeah, there's an idea. It could just work! Come on, help me. They're gonna come rollin in any time now!"

Somehow Goniff found himself being directed, posed, wondering just what the hell he'd let himself in for. He was sure of one thing! This was NOT going to go well; he really needed to stop listening to Casino! He cast a worried look down at the young woman who'd so unexpectedly become a friend, knowing she wasn't likely to be too pleased with Casino when she DID wake up. {"Ruddy 'ell, with either of us, most likely!"} he groaned. He smoothed her hair back to catch another look at her neck, wincing as he tucked the long braid back in place hiding what was going to be one hell of a bruise.

Garrison and the others walked in from the lane, having left the car out of sight behind the large barn. Casino was on the front porch, leaning on one of the supporting posts, sipping from a cup of coffee, nonchalance purely dripping from him.

Actor took a closer look, turning his head toward Garrison, "does he seem just a bit TOO casual?" Garrison took a closer look, then nodded.

"Yeah, something's up; wonder where Goniff is?"

"Probably moping because Meghada had to leave for the hotel for that meeting in the morning. He wanted to tag along, you know, said he was worried about her. You know how much of a mother hen he can be. Unless . . . You don't suppose he followed after her, in spite of your telling him not to, and Casino's trying to cover?"

Garrison growled, "damn it, he'd better not have! If Richards didn't think she could handle the job, he wouldn't have sent her. Rheames is no idiot, any more than Myers; they spot a tail and they're gone!"

Chief didn't comment. Somehow, he figured there was more to it than that; there was just something about the look on Casino's face. He met those rich brown eyes and nodded to himself, {"yeah, something's up, for sure."} They stepped up their pace, stopping just below those front steps.

"Casino."

That got him a quick nod. "Hey, Warden. Everything go okay, Beautiful snowed em like usual?" Yeah, way too casual.

"Yeah, it went fine. Where's Goniff?" 

Casino paused, nervous now, wondering if his 'absolutely brilliant' idea hadn't been a huge mistake, whether he should have given it more consideration before putting it into action, not that there had been time for that. Maybe he really HAD still been half asleep, cringing inside as he now visualized that little scene he'd orchestrated, the one that had seemed so clever at the time, the one bound to distract the Warden enough to confuse the issue of Casino's responsibility in the fiasco.

He suddenly, belatedly, realized he'd have at least THREE people pissed at him before this was over, once Goniff had a minute to think about it; Casino figured they'd been too busy earlier getting it all in place for the Englishman to totally realize what Casino had done.

"On the back porch."

"And Meghada? She make it off alright?"

"Well, not exactly. Change of plan. She's gonna drive straight in about dawn."

Casino figured he could talk her into following his lead, once she woke up anyway.

Garrison frowned, puzzled at that, especially since the redhead had made no mention of any qualms about the original plan. "I wonder why? Where is she now?"

"She's on the back porch with Goniff," Casino offered, but hastily added, "I don't think they want to be disturbed, if ya know what I mean, Warden," figuring he might just as well barrel ahead with the plan, misbegotten though it now seemed it might have been. {"Hell, who knows; maybe the Warden WILL just let it be, go on up to get some sleep."}

Somehow he knew that wasn't going to happen, even before Garrison just gave him an incredulous look, "well, I think they're about to be disturbed. I want to know why she changed things, what happened."

He quickly went up the steps and through the small farmhouse, and opened the screen door to the back porch, the others following after.

It was a silent, if highly evocative scene, Goniff sitting in the big porch swing, one arm stretched along the back, one hand stroking that dark red hair, looking off into space with a vague smile on his face, one with an underlying hint of desperation about it.

Meghada was curled on her side, her head in his lap, facing away from the door. If there was a deep flush on Goniff's usually pale cheeks, and if those blue eyes seemed unable to quite deliver on their usual 'total innocence' he had nigh well perfected, there were various possible reasons. Of course, the reasons from his point of view differed greatly from the reasons Garrison and Actor were obviously considering from the shock on their faces.

The slender Englishman was dealing with trying to maintain this ludicrous charade of a 'simple little nap' to keep Casino out of trouble, at least for the moment, worrying about what would happen when Meghada finally came round, how he was going to keep her from killing Casino, not to mention Garrison's reaction when he figured it all out. He was more than a little aware of the weight of her head in his lap, and frankly, her warm, even heated breath was highly distracting.

From Garrison and Actor's point of view, the scene was suggestive as hell, enough both men were deeply grateful they'd not gotten there a few minutes earlier. Goniff hastened to bring one finger to his lips, and his raspy voice was at barely a whisper, "ei, don't wake 'er, Lieutenant. Taking a little nap; just dropped off, she did," a nervous smile coming to his face.

Garrison raised a skeptical brow, "so she's ASLEEP, is that what you're telling me, Goniff? Just taking a little nap with you as her pillow? That's all there is to it??! Yeah, sure!"

That brought a dignified but definite snort from Actor, along with an appraising look from Chief.

Goniff looked puzzled for a minute, "well, acourse that's . . ." Then he glanced down at the woman curled up next to him, on him, and realized just how much he wanted to smack Casino! {"Ruddy 'ell, 'e did this on purpose!!"} It had been Casino who'd directed the posing, and Goniff had been so intent on thinking about the repercussions, listening as that car kept getting closer, he'd not paid as much attention to the details as he might have. If he had, he would have shifted her so at least he would have had her facing AWAY from him! {"Gonna ruddy well kick 'im for this! Meghada is gonna be SO pissed!"}

A low sound, not quite a moan but not far from it, penetrated the deep fog and Meghada slowly opened her eyes. Somehow the warmth under her cheek and the close-up view of grey corded fabric didn't help with trying to figure out where she was and why. She slowly raised her head, looking upward, and saw those almost panicked blue eyes looking down at her. She froze, took stock and realized more than she really wanted to about at least the 'where' of her question, if not the 'why' or a new part, 'how'.

A sharp clearing of the throat brought her to the realization that they were NOT alone; she slowly moved to a seated position, turned, painfully blinked her eyes and looked at the four men standing there looking at her, well, her and Goniff. Garrison looked highly annoyed, even appalled, Actor sharply speculative; Chief had a bland look, but with just a hint of amusement below. Casino . . .

Her gaze sharpened, {"Casino!! Oh, am I going to get you for this!!"} The look in Goniff's eyes had told her this had NOT been his idea, just as the 'oh, shit, I think I'm gonna be sick' look in Casino's told her it HAD been his, even if he was obviously having second, maybe third thoughts! {"But why??"}

She carefully moved her hand to touch that spot under her ear, that spot that felt like she'd been hit with a two-by-four, and she remembered.

{"Damn! I don't believe it! He caught me totally off-guard! That's downright embarrassing!"} Of course, she was becoming more and more aware that she probably needed to start a list, Embarrassing Points, One Through Ten, running the back of her hand over the imprint the corded wale of Goniff's pants had left on her cheek, grateful only that the evidence didn't seem to include a zipper track. Of course, that list probably needed to wait til she got through the current awkward moment.

She could tell Garrison wasn't just going to ignore this little diorama, though she had a twinge of unexpected amusement in wondering just how the rather crisp, no-nonsense officer was going to approach the whole matter. She started to lick her dry lips, but suddenly thought better of the notion halfway through the motion. {"Nope, not a good idea at all!"} refraining from a rueful snort at the whole misleading picture the safecracker had managed to arrange.

"Finished with your little 'nap'? Good. Maybe you'd care to explain why you decided to wait til the morning to make the trip over to Beacon Batch? I thought it was all in place; you'd go in tonight, stay at that hotel in the next town over. What changed your mind? Besides . . ." giving a curt jerk of his chin toward Goniff, and Meghada could have laughed at the intensely offended glare on the young officer's face. Garrison's lips were tight, his nose pinched, and it looked like he had the very devil of a headache.

Well, she could empathize with that; she had a pretty good one of her own! She spared a fast glance at Casino, standing in the background, sheer pleading on his face. Yeah, she'd pay him back for setting up this little scene, but that would come later. Besides, if she had to wake up anywhere, she could think of far more unpleasant places . . . She quickly brought her thoughts back to the business at hand, but knowing she'd ponder that stray thought in more detail later. Now, just how to play this without creating even more of a scene. They did still have a mission to run, after all.

"It just seemed like a good idea at the time, Lieutenant, staying someplace already secured, where I was comfortable, rather than checking into a hotel where I might be spotted by Myers or one of his crew. Both Goniff and Casino seemed a little concerned about that, Casino making his point rather strongly."

That got her a very old-fashioned look from the Lieutenant, "yes, I could see how 'comfortable' you were. You sure it was Casino who convinced you, not Goniff?? It looked like he was rather 'comfortable', too, to say the least." There was an exceedingly dry tone to the officer's voice, she noted, but she refrained from mentioning that Goniff didn't seem in the least little bit comfortable, highly UN-comfortable was more like it.

Garrison didn't give her a chance to answer before he added,"I think it's more likely Myers would spot you coming in from this direction in the morning; that was the whole idea, to prevent that."

"Well, you're probably right. It's not too late to go back to the original plan. I'll just straighten up and head out. See you all later," and she turned, making sure NOT to make eye contact with anyone standing on the porch, went inside to get ready and leave. Luckily she'd had everything in place and waiting before she'd decided to take Casino that last cup of coffee.

She checked the mirror, ruefully noting she had been overly optomistic about the absense of a zipper track. Even through the closed window she could hear the dressing down Goniff was being given, and winced on his behalf. He was still insisting it was all perfectly innocent, "she was just taking a little nap, Warden, I swear!", apparently not convincing Garrison at all. Yes, Casino was going to pay for this, every last bit of it, after they got this job out of the way!

Still, on the drive in, she found herself thinking of how truly comfortable she HAD been, even with that pounding headache, and allowed herself the indulgence of a smile and a few speculative thoughts, not even bothering to try and talk herself out of them. Well, surely she'd earned the right to SOMETHING to make up for that blasted headache.

Rheames showed up right on schedule, looking every inch the musty academic he was pretending to be. Who knows, maybe he WAS a professor of archaeology when he wasn't being a spy; he knew all the right words, portrayed just the right amount of concern for the historical finds that might be destroyed if German bombs struck those ancient barrows. Well, she knew the right words too, secure in her guise of a prim, bespectacled and exceedingly unworldly daughter of a local historian, now too feeble to offer escort of his own, but sending her in his stead. She'd offered to take him on a tour of those barrows and the surrounding landscape, and he'd eagerly accepted. If somehow he'd gotten entirely the wrong impression, had mistaken that old deserted village in the opposite direction for Beacon Batch, had heard all the old legends about what caused the occasional lights in the darkness and all, well, that was hardly her fault. Since Garrison and Actor had done an equally good job at misdirecting Myers, the two German agents departed onboard that outbound ship with a few misconceptions, all to the benefit of the good people of Bristol. 

Garrison hung up the phone, getting that report, knowing they'd pulled it off. Now he could focus on the yelling he'd started back at that farmhouse. He hadn't gotten more than a couple of good yells out, when the sheepish look on Casino's face told him there was more to the story than it had appeared.

"All right, Casino. Spill it, now!!!" Now he listened in totally dumbfounded exasperation as their safecracker did his best to explain his 'absolutely brilliant' plan.

"So, that whole scene was staged. Just so, as you say, not to 'distract' us from the mission."

"Yeah, Warden, that's pretty much it. Figured if you knew I'd let her get that close without me knowing it, if you knew she'd gotten knocked out so she couldn't head out when she was supposed to, well, that you'd get to yelling and it'd put us all off-balance, distract us from the job. YOU know, like yer always telling us not to let happen," Casino was explaining earnestly, if not particularly coherently. Garrison glared at him, for maybe the tenth time, and shifted the glare over to a highly-apprehensive Goniff perched on the back of a chair.

"And you went along with this??!" getting a hapless shrug and an equally sheepish look in response. 

Frankly, Goniff was feeling pretty much a victim here, and wasn't sure why he was getting yelled at too. Well, maybe he did have an idea or two, but really, it wasn't like it was his fault, not much anyway. The glare was apparently making its way around the room, though, since it now fell on a redhead who was trying not to grin at the whole ridiculous mess.

"And you just went along with it too??! Maybe I should expect shit like this from them, but YOU??!"

She snickered, which didn't improve Garrison's mood one bit, but she just couldn't control it. "I was rather late on the scene, if you know what I mean, Lieutenant, being unconscious for most of it. And yes, I am suitably embarrassed at being caught off guard by Casino's elbow jab. Once I was awake, I just went with the flow; anything else seemed rather counterproductive. I hate to say it but in one respect Casino was right. I mean, in not wanting to have you upset and pull your attention from the job at hand. Of course, the method he chose was perhaps less than ideal, and I can only think your report probably gave Kevin Richards a heart attack since I haven't had him show up on my doorstep screaming at me as he surely would have once he read it. Kevin does seem to have a strong sense of propriety. But really, when you think on it, Lieutenant, it was a great deal your own fault, you know." 

His jaw dropped, along with a few others around the room. While the others exchanged puzzled looks, he exploded at her, "MY FAULT??! Just how the hell was it MY fault??!" They probably could have heard him in the drive outside.

She waited for just a second or two, let it build, then looked at him as if puzzled that he hadn't understood immediately.

"Well, it was you who labeled that whole mission 'Misdirection Upon Misdirection at Beacon Batch'. You even wrote it across the top of the planning board. If I remember, you were rather proud of the concept - 'a veritable tour de force of misdirection', wasn't that what you called it? It seems Casino was just following your lead."

A snicker turned to a chuckle, was joined by others, then outright laughter, although Lieutenant Craig Garrison couldn't quite bring himself to join the merriment. Later he did ruefully acknowledge, "and you don't have to worry about Richards; there was no way I was going to put THAT in my report. You're right; he probably WOULD have had a heart attack!" thinking again about that lurid scene they'd walked in on, the even more lurid one he'd assumed they'd just missed.

He shook his head, "misdirection. Don't do that to me again; I'm not sure MY heart can take it." She looked at him, raising one mocking eyebrow, and he had the uneasy feeling that that particular little bit of misdirection might prove to be the least of what was in store for him if the O'Donnell woman hung around with his guys much more.

Chief was watching the scene across the room with quiet interest. "Hey, Casino, what do you think they're talking about, Goniff and Meghada? They keep looking over at you, then they go back to talking some more." He watched in silent amusement as the already apprehensive look on Casino's face grew stronger.

"I don't know, Indian, but I got a real bad feelin I'm gonna find out!"

"We gotta get 'im back, you know; don't know why you want to put it off," Goniff protested.

Meghada gave another sly look over at the highly nervous safecracker, then looked into those hazy blue eyes. "Oh, we will, but let's wait for just a little while. I want to see just how worried he gets, yes?"

A slow grin came to the Englishman's face, matching the one on the woman's, and together they turned their heads and looked at Casino, then back at each other, in perfect accord.

Garrison had been watching the by-play and groaned. {"Yeah, I'm in for it, sure enough!"}

What Casino thought, no one knew for sure, but that almost panicked moan gave them a strong hint.


End file.
